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Stadiums
Doncaster Rovers Football Club have used 4 Stadiums in their history. Intake Ground For the first six years the club began playing their games wherever they could, on playing fields at Town Moor and the Racecourse. They gained a permanent ground in 1885 when they started playing their games near the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb and so was known as the Deaf and Dumb Ground. A year later the stadium was officially named as the Intake Ground. A few months after completion, the roof blew off the stand, and the same happened in 1994 on the press and team officials stand after a gale. They played their football there until August 1914 when the club went into liquidation. A new company did take over the club soon after but all English league competition was suspended in 1915 due to the First World War and the club was closed down and the ground turned into an Army depot. Bennetthorpe Ground When the Club was reformed after the war in the summer of 1919, the Army were still occupying the old Intake Ground as a depot. They had wanted to move to Low Pastures but restrictions set by the local council meant this wasn't a viable option. The Club didn't join the Midland League until 1920–21, by which time and as a temporary solution, a field was found on the south side of Bennetthorpe for which they were given a two year lease. On the first day of the second season (1921–22) there, in the Midland League, the Bennetthorpe Ground saw 7,219 people watch Rovers against Gainsborough Trinity. The ground consisted of a small stand on one side and small organised terraces around the pitch. Some of the fencing/gates on Town Moor Avenue remain. Belle Vue With council restrictions on the six acre Low Pastures site having been satisfactorarily negotiated, the Club moved there for the beginning of the 1922–23 season. Large amounts of ash from nearby coal tips was laid as a base for the pitch, serving it well throughout its years of use with superb drainage. Initially, there was a stand for 4,000 seated fans with terracing in front for another 3,000. The ground had a unique feature in that home and away teams had separate entrances. The stadium was opened in 1922 by Charles Sutcliffe, a representative of the Football League when it was named Belle Vue. The first match there was against Gainsborough Trinity in the Midland League with an attendance of 10,000. After two years, shelter was added for standing spectators on the "Popular Side". A few years later in 1927, the stand from the Bennetthorpe Ground was jacked up and moved to the new venue providing a sheltered stand at the "Town End". The "Popular Side" was extended in 1927 and concreted in 1928. Turnstiles, gates and fencing were added in 1935,32 and in 1938 the "Popular Side" stand roof was replaced and put further back increasing the capacity of Belle Vue to 40,000. In 1947 the stadium recorded its highest attendance of 37,099 against Hull City, although apocryphal accounts refute this and claim that many more gained entry to the ground by climbing over walls and thus avoided having to pay. Following the Bradford City stadium fire disaster, in 1985 the wooden "Cow Shead", as the old Bennetthorpe stand was known, had to be removed for safety reasons. Mining subsidence in 1987 meant much of the "Pop Side" was removed, drastically reducing the grounds capacity to around 10,000. Further safety conditions imposed after the Hillsborough disaster led the capacity to fall to 7,294. When the Westferry Consortium took over the club in 1998 one of the first guarantees was to help establish a new stadium for the club. Belle Vue had never been upgraded heavily since 1938 and despite minor cosmetic changes and the addition of some seating was really showing its age by the time Westferry took over. Despite this, some improvements were made in the last few years of its use as the Club rose out of the Conference, through Division 3 and into League 1. The Town End terracing was made safe and usable with portacabins added as executive stands behind it. The Rossington End was also extended and updated, with the capacity in its final years rising to around 11,500. In 2003 it was renamed the Earth Stadium after the Rotherham-based finance company Earth Finance started sponsoring the ground. Belle Vue was Doncaster's home for 84 years. Keepmoat Stadium A new 15,231 all-seated stadium owned by Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council and rented by the club, was completed in December 2006. The first game at the new Keepmoat Stadium was against Huddersfield Town on New Year's Day, 2007. The game also saw the first three red cards in the new stadium. Doncaster Rovers' centre forward Mark McCammon was the first player ever to score on the new pitch in a football match. The official opening of the Keepmoat Stadium was on 3 August 2007, with Doncaster Rovers playing a Manchester United XI in front of a crowd of 13,080. United won the game 2–0 with Anderson making his debut for them. On 19 June 2012 it was confirmed that Doncaster Rovers F.C. had secured a 99 Year operating lease from Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council to lead the management of the Keepmoat stadium with a view to improving operating results. The change placed the Club back in charge of its home Stadium after the period of renting since its move from Belle Vue (also leased from the Council) in 2007. On 11 August 2012, the stadium was officially handed over to chairman John Ryan in a presentation before the League Cup tie with York City. Category:Club Category:Stadiums